Folding crate.



A. J. GONE.

FOLDING CRATE.

APPLICATION IILED rm. 5, 1910.

Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

INVENTOR.

Mia

WITNESSES: ('3. WI/ZZZ To all-whom it may concern:

tmirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ARTHUR J. CONE, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO.

romaine CRATE.

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. CONE, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident .of Toledo, in the countyof Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulFolding Crate; and I do hereby decla-reihe following to be a full,clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which 1 it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of referencemarked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

-My invention relates to improvements in folding or collapsible crates,and has particular reference to the construction of the botto'ms'andcovers of such crates. I The ob ect of my invention is the pro- VlSlOIl,in a crate of th1s class, of a simple,

improved and highly etlicient construction of bottom and cover forthesame, whereby such arts are capable of being easily and laced inengagement with or rerom a crate, and which whenin movement relative tothe crate body or accidental removal therefrom.

The operation, construction and arrangement of the parts of theinvention are fully described in the following specification, and

a preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in -which,-

. position therein.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a crate with the parts comprising myinvention in Fig. 2 is section of the same'on the line w a: in Fig. 1,with the locking means of the cover depressed to permit a removal of thecover, and Fig. 3 is a similar section with one end of the cover partlyraised.

Referrin to the drawings, 1 designates the body of a crate, which isshown as being rectangular in form, and as having its sides and endscomposed of parallel. slats or bars Qand 3, respectively, the upper andlower slats ofthe ends being designated 3 and serving asholding-stripsfor the bottom and cover. These slats or bars are arranged at thecorners in alternating or-Istaggered relation,'so thatthe slats of thesame side or end 'are'spaced apart, as shown. Rods or bolts 4 passvertically through the corners and pivotally connect the sides and endsto- Specification of Letters Patent, Application filed February 5, 1910.Serial No; 542,335.

gether to adapt them to be folded in compact form when not in use.

Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

I I I a series of strips 7 preferably broader t an the slats or bars 2and '3, and being of sulficlcm. length for their-ends to project underand over the top and bottom holding-strips 3, respectively. Three strips7 are connected together by cross-pieces 8 and 9, the former of whichhas its ends projected beyond the edges of the closures to rest on orbear against the outer edge of the upper and lower side slats 2, tolimit the inward movements of said parts.

The strip 8 is disposed near one end of its closure member, and whensuch member is in locked position within the crate is intended to abutagainst the contiguous end slat 3 and serve-as a stop-piece for theclosure, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The other cross-piece 9 is disposedat some dis tance from the other end of the closure for the purposehereinafter described. A, third cross-piece 10 is secured to suchclosure near the end thereof which is opposed to that to which the strip8 is secured, and is spaced :1 short distance from the contiguous endslat 3 of the crate, when the closure isin locked position, to permitthesecuring of one or more lock-blocks or pieces 11 to the closure, belweenthe end slat 3 and piece outer side slats or bars 2, as in the case ofthe stop-piece S.

In the present instance the closures are shownas each comprising threestrips? and the cross or stop-piece-IO is secured at its center to thecenterone of these, thus leaving the ends of the outer "strips 7 free tooscillate to and from the cross-piece 10 with the cross-piece 9 as thefulcrum 'or fixed point from which they oscillatefas' shown in Figs. 2'and 3. The blocks 11 are carried by the ends of the stripsfl which arethus free to oscillate thus adapting them to be depressed below theplane of the coacting slat 3' to permit the closure to'be moved eiidwise\until the stop-piece 10 moves Into contact with such slat, which movement is sufficient to withdraw the opposite' end of the closure fromengagement with .its slat 3. While the cross-piece 10 is shown as beingsecuredto the center strip 7 of the closure and the blocks 11 to theside .strips thereof, it is to be understood that -9*'is disposed asuitable distance from the flush contact with an end slat,

I wish it understood thatmy unvention piece 10 to give the resilientends of the strips 7 the desired resiliency or stiffness.

\Vhen a closure is positioned in. the top or bottom'of a crate thecross-piece S and lock-blocks 11 abutor fit closely against therespective end slats 3' so as to rigidly and securely hold the closureagainst endwise movements relative to the crate body. To remove theclosure it is only necessary to depress the lock-blocks 11 below theplane of the associated end slat 3 as indicated in Fig. 2, when theclosure maybe moved lengthwise until the cross-piece 10 abuts againstsuchend-slat, which movement is suflicient to release the opposite endof the closure from engagement with the associated end slat 3 to permitit. to be raised as indicated in Fig. 3, and the closure removed. Insecuring a closure in position within the crate, the end carrying theblocks llis first inserted on an incline under an end-slat 3' untilstopped by the contact of the crosspiece 10 with'such slat. The oppositeend of the closure is then forced down to a plane parallel with theslats 2 and moved endwise to force its free end] under the asso ciatedslat/3' until stopped by the contact 'of the cross-piece 8 with suchslat 3'. As

the stop-piece 8 moves into contact with its end slat the blocks 11 arefreed from the coacting end slat and influenced by the resi1- iency ofthe strips 7 to moue outwardly in advance of the associated end slat 3,as

is apparent.- The cross-piece 10in addition to serving as..a stop forlimiting the endwise movement of the closure within the crate, alsoserves to square or place thes des and ends at rlght angles when itmoves into is not limited to-any specific construction orarrangement ofthe parts except in so specified in the far as such limitations areclaims. p 1 v Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. A crate having holding-strips at one edge of opposite walls thereof,a removable closure comprising a plurality of longitudinal strips,cross-pieces carried by the closure a portion, at least, of which havetheir ends extended beyond the side edges of the closure, thecross-piece adjacent to one end of the closure being-free from at leastone of the closure strips and spaced from the adjacent holding-stripwhen positioned in the crate, and a lock-block carried by the free stripbetween the cross-piece which is free' therefrom and the adjacentholding-strip to lock the closure against movement within the crateexcept when such lock-block is depressed.

2. A crate having holding-strips atone edge of opposite walls thereof, aremovable closure comprising a plurality of longitudinal resilient.strips, stop-pieces .adjacent to the opposite ends of such strips, oneof such pieces being free from a portion of such strips, lock-blockscarried by the'free strips intermediate said last mentioned stop-pieceand the adjacent end of the closure, and a cross-piece carried by theclosure intermediate the stop-pieces and adapted to serve as a fulcrumpiece for the free ends of the strips carrying such blocks to permit adepression of such blocks, a portion atleast of such pieces having theirends extended beyond the side'edges of the closure, substantially asdescribed. I

3. The combination with a crate body having openings in opposite wallsnear the upper and lower edges thereof, of a removable top and bottom,each comprising a plurality of resilient strips adapted to have theirends inserted into said openings, and having stop-pieces 8 and 10adjacent the opposite ends thereof, the stop-piece 10.being disposedfarther from its end of the closure than the stop-piece 8 is from itsend, and being free from a portion of said strips, a cross-piece 9intermediate saidstop-pieces and adapted to serve as a fulcrum for theends of said strips, which are free from the stop-piece 10, andlock-blocks 11 secured to the free strips without the stop-piece 10 andadapted to, abut against the inner side of the contiguous end wall whenthe closure is in position within the crate and to be depressed topermit a releasing movement of the closure relative to the crate, saidstop-pieces having their ends extended beyond the side.

edges of the closure, substantially as do

